Israel has briefed US on plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians

Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants according to US officials familiar with the talksThe officials who were not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the US administrations view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at riskIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisisThe Biden administration has said that there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians Some 15 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on October 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel killing 1200 people and taking about 250 hostagesThe United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be at imminent risk of death if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians many in densely packed tent campsThe officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter White House press secretary Karine JeanPierre told reporters on Friday that no comprehensive plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White HouseThe operation however has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and US national security officials We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives those innocent lives JeanPierre saidThe revelation of Israels continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt where negotiators are trying to seal a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release put forward by US Egyptian and Qatari mediators who are looking to avert the Rafah operationThey have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on October 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer though it has not specified whenIsrael and its allies have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalise the deal Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah which Israel says is Hamas last stronghold regardless of whether a truceforhostages deal is struckHis comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region including Israel this week and called the latest proposal extraordinarily generous and said the time to act is nowThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever